This week, the military upended years of quasi-democratic rule in Myanmar, with soldiers taking control of the country in a carefully orchestrated coup.
The military said the seizure of power was necessary because the government had failed to act on its unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in November elections, which the party of the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, won in a landslide.
It claims the takeover was legal. But where exactly did the coup happen? Was it in Myanmar, as the the country is officially called?
Or was it in Burma, the name Washington continues to use? The answer is complicated. Because when it comes to Myanmar, pretty much everything is political.